Rating: 
Summary: The Woodworms of Time
Review: In _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_, Julian Barnes takes the tired cliché, "history repeats itself," and breathes new life into the phrase. By plopping the reader down in various fictional and historical situations ranging from the voyage of Noah's ark, to the wreck of the Medusa, to the South American set of a British movie, Barnes shows us that history does indeed repeat itself, often in inimical ways. The result is a fantastic and thought provoking novel reminiscent of Thomas Pynchon's masterful mingling of fact and fiction.
Barnes focuses specifically on the inimical historical practice of separating the clean from the unclean and shows us how this act plays itself out from various historical and social angles. The book begins with an account of Noah's ark narrated by a stowaway woodworm with a good sense of humor who describes to us God and Noah's separation of clean and unclean beasts. Disturbed laughter at the woodworm's lament on the "puzzled complaint of the lobster" and the "mournful shame of the stork" (11) turns to creeping horror in the next chapter as a boat full of tourists is hijacked by terrorists. Here, the terrorists separate the tourists (who, incidentally, are on the cruise to learn about history) first by nationality and then by religious affiliation. Later, Barnes spares no details in his powerfully terse description of the shipwreck of the Medusa, yet another situation where passengers of a ship are divided into groups by status. Officers escape in lifeboats as other crewmembers are left to murder and cannibalize on a makeshift raft. Barnes' description of these events can elicit a dry laugh at one moment and disgusted outrage at the next.
The novel's explanation for all of these universal injustices: entropy, the ineluctable tendency of all things tangible and intangible to evolve towards a state of disorganization. Or as Barnes defines it: "things f@*k up" (244). Pynchon would be proud of Barnes' use of woodworms as a motif to represent entropy throughout history, but like Pynchon Barnes believes in the saving grace of humane gestures. Just when things begin to look really bleak, the author breaks in with his own voice in "Parenthesis," the half-chapter of _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_ and in this critic's opinion, one of the greatest treatises on love ever written. The chapter expounds on the human force of love, a historical factor that probably did not appear in your History of Western Civilization book.
Hilarious, unsettling and touching, Julian Barnes' _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_ is recommend to all those who may have lost their faith in the universe or those who are looking for an intelligent play on everything they have ever been taught. Bring an open mind and plenty of time to think over some fascinating issues and you will not be disappointed with this novel.
Rating:
Summary: The Woodworms of Time
Review: In _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_, Julian Barnes takes the tired cliché, "history repeats itself," and breathes new life into the phrase. By plopping the reader down in various fictional and historical situations ranging from the voyage of Noah's ark, to the wreck of the Medusa, to the South American set of a British movie, Barnes shows us that history does indeed repeat itself, often in inimical ways. The result is a fantastic and thought provoking novel reminiscent of Thomas Pynchon's masterful mingling of fact and fiction.
Barnes focuses specifically on the inimical historical practice of separating the clean from the unclean and shows us how this act plays itself out from various historical and social angles. The book begins with an account of Noah's ark narrated by a stowaway woodworm with a good sense of humor who describes to us God and Noah's separation of clean and unclean beasts. Disturbed laughter at the woodworm's lament on the "puzzled complaint of the lobster" and the "mournful shame of the stork" (11) turns to creeping horror in the next chapter as a boat full of tourists is hijacked by terrorists. Here, the terrorists separate the tourists (who, incidentally, are on the cruise to learn about history) first by nationality and then by religious affiliation. Later, Barnes spares no details in his powerfully terse description of the shipwreck of the Medusa, yet another situation where passengers of a ship are divided into groups by status. Officers escape in lifeboats as other crewmembers are left to murder and cannibalize on a makeshift raft. Barnes' description of these events can elicit a dry laugh at one moment and disgusted outrage at the next.
The novel's explanation for all of these universal injustices: entropy, the ineluctable tendency of all things tangible and intangible to evolve towards a state of disorganization. Or as Barnes defines it: "things f@*k up" (244). Pynchon would be proud of Barnes' use of woodworms as a motif to represent entropy throughout history, but like Pynchon Barnes believes in the saving grace of humane gestures. Just when things begin to look really bleak, the author breaks in with his own voice in "Parenthesis," the half-chapter of _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_ and in this critic's opinion, one of the greatest treatises on love ever written. The chapter expounds on the human force of love, a historical factor that probably did not appear in your History of Western Civilization book.
Hilarious, unsettling and touching, Julian Barnes' _A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters_ is recommend to all those who may have lost their faith in the universe or those who are looking for an intelligent play on everything they have ever been taught. Bring an open mind and plenty of time to think over some fascinating issues and you will not be disappointed with this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: trendy overview of history and love
Review: It cannot be taken away from Julian Barnes that A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters is both a clever and a witty novel. His ability to cover different events in history from somewhat skewed perspectives is highly innovative. The connections among the events that Barnes incites are also witty as well as entertaining. I cannot say that all of the "chapters" were easy reads. In fact, I felt that some of them stretched for meaning and connection to the rest of the novel. My favorite chapter would have to be the hostage situation. I thoroughly enjoyed Barnes' use of perspective and point of view. The novel grabs your attention from the very beginning with the story of great deluge. Coming from a Catholic school background, it is interesting to note how the subject of the flood is treated outside of the Church. Any story of the arc that I have ever heard would either be told from the perspective of Noah or some omniscient being. It would seem obvious to note that the half chapter is of great importance. Here, the topic of love arises. This part of the novel summarizes the idea that love is a consistent theme throughout history and that it might be easy to overlook. I did not find it necessary to wait until chapter eight to bring this to our attention. Since Barnes waits until this late in the novel, the reader is searching for some deeper, hidden meaning or the reader is getting caught up in the "novelty" of the book. I felt that if Barnes had introduced this segment of the book earlier, his point would have been more poignant. Another reviewer noted that this book is intended for the "coffee talk" generation. I must say that I agree with this point. Anyone who condemns modern civilization and anything that would be considered mainstream would surely love this book. Although I might not appreciate the style of the work, I will concede that Barnes manages to get the message of love and connection throughout history across in his version of history.
Rating: 
Summary: A book that makes you stop and think.
Review: Julian Barnes book,"A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters is a book I wouldn't normally read but after reading it I felt the need to question certian things that occured throughout history. I truely enjoyed the way Mr.Barnes perceived how Noah's Ark REALLY was in "The Stowaway". Having the story told to you by woodworms was entertaining and comical. I started to visualize how some of those animals were actually treated by Noah and his crew. Also, it made you think that some of those animals, like imagining the unicorn as breathtakingly beautiful, were actually smarter than the humans.I really laughed out loud at the way the woodworm talked of how Ham's child might have been conceived by one of the simians. Even Ham's wife felt that the animals were a better species than the humans were to conceive a child with. I especially enjoyed the end of "The Stowaway", when the wood worm talked of how Noah tried to persuade the animals to stay on after the long voyage from the Ark in what he called "New Noah's Place". The wood worm made you think that Noah was an incompetant drunk who didn't know what he was doing and only did it because he had no other choice, not because he was special.I believed more truths to the story told by the woodworm than any history book or t.v. miniseries wanted you to believe. The second chapter,"The Visitors",put me in the character, Franklin Hughes's, shoes.I tried to visualize what I would do if I was chosen as the one who had to tell a large group of tourist they may not live. Also, to make a life altering decision and find your no hero, but shunned by the people your trying to save,made you put your priorities in perspective. Here was a man who risked getting killed to save others and to be unrewared in the end shows you once again how life's unfair. As you can see from my review, I took pleasure in reading the first two chapters. I didn't enjoy the other stories as the first two chapters because,I guess,I was hoping for that laugh out loud read. Still, most of the book gives you an intellectual insight on the history of the world in a thought-provoking cynical satire. In the end, I found myself curious to read some of his other works.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm.....
Review: Julian Barnes intriques me. He, at times is a very good writer. A History of the World... displays some of his more interesting work. But Julian, why do you feel the need to slip into 'artistic' pretentiousness? Some of these stories are incredibly good. The vision of heaven is enlightening, the meditation on love meaningful. Yet ramblings of woodworms and paintings of shipwrecks display a need to be accepted by the 'café laté' set, the black beret and skivvy wearing lot who measure success by style rather than content, image over substance. And Julien, you have substance in this book, but then slip back into the style; all surface, no feeling. As I've said, there are some great moments of insight in this text, but unfortunantly they are soiled by moments of pretension. This does not ruin the book, merely make it less than it perhaps could have been.
Rating:
Summary: everything I expected it to be...
Review: Julian Barnes uses every chapter to touch very interesting beliefs and stories. At the beginning it seems like the chapters are disconnected from one another, but thinking of it all over again, you can totally see the message that Barnes was trying to transmit. Some chapters are just really funny and witty at the same time, Barnes style of writing and his way in being straight to the point makes his books more interesting and challenging to read. It is worth the reading, and to make it even better read it more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: Forget the moon walk, the Declaration of Independence...
Review: Julian Barnes's History of the World is 307 pages long and spans mankind's "history" from the Biblical Flood era through modern times-and to boot, it ends with a treatise on the afterlife. Before you ask, the font face is 12-point Arial font. Needless to say, in this History a few things are left out (the moon walk, Caesar crossing the Rubicon, either World War, the founding of Rome, the Reformation, the Emancipation Proclamation, the banning of Ulysses). Thankfully, though, none of what's left out is very important in the grand scheme of things. First, what is here: stories from the underbelly-a first-person account by a stow away on Noah's Ark; the story of a tour-guide-cum-hostage of an anti-Zionist group in the Mediterranean; sixteenth-century court documents from a trial for blasphemy; the love letters of a washed-out 20th-century B-move actor; a golfer in heaven with a handicap of infinity. Barnes does what every good author would do with this subject matter-he avoids it entirely. Outside academia and obsessed Ph.D. fruitcakes, no one wants to return to a lecture on History of the Western World 101 (Barnes tackles Western Civilization only, mind you; he doesn't touch anything Eastern). And so it's a good thing that events are not the issues here: Barnes runs through the book a series of themes that run through the world, outside of the major events: themes of love, of hope in absurdity, of struggling after fleeting faith. Every scholar is saying-what do these emotions matter in the end? Is this some tract on hippy-love? No, this is not bed-hopping, tree-hugging hooey: Barnes delivers ten short stories that are mentally engaging and artistically interesting. It is a study of history where, of course, history repeats itself: everyone's on an Ark from time to time, a certain woodworm keeps cropping up, love is constantly butting heads with history or civilization and always there is an antagonism and a vitality to life that doesn't come from the Big Events of human history- Barnes answers his own questions about why we have virtues that don't mean horse puck in the evolutionary scheme of things: because if we didn't have these virtues, all the history in the world would be nothing more than dates and numbers. Barnes's ideas are first-rate. The only complaint with the book is that it does drag now and then: An all-encompassing history book collects the world together, which means the fantastic alongside the merely marginal; unfortunately, in the same way at times Barnes's prose is anemic not long after it's enthralling. He waxes brilliant in his ½ of a chapter, but uses about ten pages too many to get to his point. The chapters, however, are all of such a length, and change tempo so easily, that just as the book bogs down, the scene shifts and the reader is asked to examine everything from a new angle. The way that a good history should be studied.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Fiction
Review: Many have said in these reviews that the fragmented nature of this book make it a difficult read. I found it the opposite...the different settings, tones, styles, and characters in each chapter made the book a dynamic experience, and the way Barnes takes two or three main themes and weaves them so effortlessly throughout all of the chapters is incredible. I found the book a joy to read, never knowing when a little nugget from a previous chapter would pop up in another chapter/story in some totally unexpected way. The "history of the world" obviously isn't linear or traditional, but it's a fun exploration of themes, emotions, and trends that Barnes sees as common throughout history. Great read.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Fiction
Review: Many have said in these reviews that the fragmented nature of this book make it a difficult read. I found it the opposite...the different settings, tones, styles, and characters in each chapter made the book a dynamic experience, and the way Barnes takes two or three main themes and weaves them so effortlessly throughout all of the chapters is incredible. I found the book a joy to read, never knowing when a little nugget from a previous chapter would pop up in another chapter/story in some totally unexpected way. The "history of the world" obviously isn't linear or traditional, but it's a fun exploration of themes, emotions, and trends that Barnes sees as common throughout history. Great read.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant...
Review: Not that reviews are generally easy to write but attempting to package "History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters" is next to impossible. Barnes plays with the fundamental ideas of post-modernism in this work: subjectivity versus objectivity. We are treated to the woodworms' view of history as well as some rather gruesome aspects behind a rather famous painting. All aspects point out that one's perspective of the "truth" and "what really happened" might not even be a valid idea, let alone how much to trust any statments on such matters. Barnes' style is quiet and he lets you form your own ideas. The book is quite enjoyable to read and I have gone through my copy several times over the years.
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